Blank-feeder



L. E. LA BOMBARD.

BLANK FEEDER. APPLiCATION FILED DEC. I0. 1917.

Patented J 11110 7, 1921.

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LEON 113. LA BOMBARD, OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO SPECIALTY AUTOMATIC MACHINE COMPANY,OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORA- TION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

B-IEEIDER.

Specifipation of Letters Patent.

Patented June 7, 19211..

Application filed December 10, 1917. Serial No. 206,383.

To all whom 275 may concern:

Be it known that l[, LEON E. LA BoMBARn, of Chelsea, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Blank-Feeders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to feeders for sheet material such as paper box blanks, and the particular object thereof is to provide a reliable and durable feeding mechanism which will operate on all classes of work whether the blanks are thick or thin, long or short.

Another object is to provide an improved feeding mechanism which will take blanks singly from a supply and advance them in accurate spaced relationship toward mechanism which is to fold or otherwise act upon said blanks.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the improvements which will be hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Of the accompanying drawings, which illustrate so much of the mechanism as is necessary to enable the improvements to be understood Figure 1 is a side elevation with portions broken out.

Fig. 2 is a view from the side opposite that shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail view looking in the direction of the arrow 3 in Fig. 1.-

Fig. 4 represents a section on line 44 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view, similar to a portion of Fig. 1, illustrating another embodiment of my invention.

Similar reference characters designate similar parts or features in all of the views.

A portion of the frame of the machine is represented at 12, and two fixed tie rods or cross bars 13, 14, are supported thereby.

A block or casting 15 is secured on the rod 14 by a set screw 16, and supports the inner or lower end of the hopper 17 for the supply of blanks. A spring plate or tongue 18 is secured between the block 15 and hopper 17 and extends over a pin or to the periphery of the feed wheel 22 carried by shaft 21, said wheel having feed studs 23 to act successively on blanks a supported by the hopper 17 and the plate 18.

Adjustably secured to the lower face of the block 15 as hereinafter described, is a gage 24 the upper end or tip of which is adapted to just permit the passage of a single blank between it and the Wheel 22, the rear face of said gage adjacent its tip extending substantially radially with respect to the feed wheel to serve as a stop to prevent a second blank from passing along with the one which is directly acted upon by the said wheel. A timing stop 25 is slidably mounted next to the gage 24, being guided on screws or studs 26 which pass through a slot 27 in the member 25. A lug 28 at the lower end of the member 25 receives a pin 29 projecting from a slide 30 (Figs 1 and 3) having slots 31 through which guiding screws or studs 32 project from the frame member 12. At the upper end of the slide 30 is a roll 33 contacting with a cam 34 carried by shaft 21, a spring 35 connected at one end to one of the studs 32 and at the other end to a pin 36 projecting from the slide acting to preserve the contact of the said roll and cam. A supplemental spring 37 connecting pins projecting from the members 24, 25, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, may also be employed.

A roll 38 bears yieldingly against the feed wheel adjacent the timing stop 25, said roll being carried by a yoke frame 39 pivotally supported at 40, a spring 41 between said frame and the table 42 acting to return the roll 38 into contact with the feed wheel table or platform strip 44 in 'alinement therewith, on their way to whatever mechanism is to fold or otherwise act on the blanks.

A chain 46 connects a sprocket 45 carried by shaft 21 with a sprocket 47 carried by a shaft 48. Said shaft 48 also carries a pulley 49 for a belt 50 between which and the table 44 the blanks are delivered to the folding or other blank-treating mechanism. A chain 51 is mounted on a sprocket on.

shaft 21, beside the sprocket 45, the lower stretch of said chain 51 running over the table 44 beside the belt 50, and having suitably spaced stops or pins 52 against which the front edges of the blanks are pushed by the feed wheel and the belt 50. The diameter of the feed wheel being greater than that of the sprocket on which the chain 51 runs, the peripheral speed of said wheel is greater than the speed of travel of the chain. And. as clearly shown in Fig. 1, the chain and sprocket gearing is such that the belt 50 travels faster than the chain 51. Hence the blanks will be pushed against the stops or pins 52, as just described, and after they arrive against said stops or pins, the belt 50 will slip over the blanks and hold them in contact with the stops or pins and insure their arriving at the foldin or other treating mechanism properly an accurately spaced. This mechanism, for feeding the blanks along by a belt, with the blanks spaced by pins projecting from a slower moving chain, is not claimed herein by itself. It is mentioned briefly because the novelty of the invention which is claimed has to do with mechanism which feeds blanks of any kind or character properly spaced to the point where they are taken by the belt and chain 51.

- The front edges of the blanks a nearest the feed wheel 22 bear on the spring plate 18 and the latter bears on the stud 19, the stem 53 of which extends through a socket in. the block 15 and through the bottom of said socket, the lower end of the stem being threaded. A nut'54 on said threaded end,

below the block 15, enables the stem and the stud 19 to be vertically adjusted so as to normally support the plate 18 with its lower edge spaced just the rlght distance from the periphery of the feed wheel to best suit the particular blanks being operated upon. At the same time, the spring 20 ermits the stud 19 and the plate 18 to yield 1f too many blanks should work'their lower portions toward the edge of said plate.

To permit the gage 24 to be adjusted to suit the thickness of the blanks to be fed, the 50 following structure is provided :Within a socket bored in the casting 15 is a cylindrical block 55 (see Fig. 4 and dotted lines in Fig. 1). Said socket intersects the lower face of the casting so that the screws 26, which fit and pass through holes in ga 24 and engage tapped holes in said cylin rical block, can shift vertically and carry the gage with them, if the said cylindrical block is adjusted up or down in its socket.

A screw 56 passes through a slot 57 in the side of casting 15 into the block 55. A

. spring 58 is interposed between the bottom of block 55 and a screw 59. Whenever it is desired to adjust the gage 24 to suit the thickness of the blanks to be fed from hopper 17, the side screw 56 is loosened, the gage 24 is pushed down against the action of spring 58, one blank is allowed to project over the top of the gage, and then the gage is released. The spring 58 then shifts the block 55 and the gage 24 carried thereby up until the blank contacts with the periphery of the feed wheel. This arrests the stop, and the side screw 56 is then tightened, thus holding the block 55 and the gage 24 with the latter at just the right distance from the feed wheel to permit all blanks of the same thickness to pass one at a time.

The high portion of cam 34 is short enough to pass roll 33 before the rear end of the blank which is being advanced by studs 23 passes beyond stop 25. This is'for the purpose of permitting the slide 30 and stop 25 to be spring-actuated upwardly so that the upper end of stop 25 will first bear against the lower surface of the passing blank and then, as soon as the rear edge of said blank has passed, quickly rise to position to positively prevent the passage of another blank until cam 34 again actuates the slide 30 to shift stop 25 away from the periphery of the feed wheel and open a passageway for the blank next engaged by the studs 23 and advanced from the hopper 17.

The structure so far described provides for what is termed timed feeding, one blank being fed each time the studs 23 arrive at, and pass, the supply of blanks in the hopper. If continuous feeding is desired, the blanks following each other as soon as the rear edge of each passes the gage 24, I simply omit the timing stop 25 and the mechanism for operating the same, and provide the feed wheel with a complete friction periphery such as a rubber band of proper width and thickness, instead of the plugs 23. Such a structure or arrangement is indicated in Fig. 5 in which the feed wheel 22 is provided with an elastic friction feeding band 60.

Heretofore the most successful feeding mechanisms of the general type hereinbefore described have, so far as I am aware, employed what is termed a retard for the edges of the blanks close to the feed wheel. Such retards are usually made of rubber and rapidly wear away in use. In order that such retards will permit the blanks to get close to the feed wheel so as to be fed, it is necessary to either make them of such small size that it is then difficult to properly secure age to the machine. In both of the forms illustrated in the drawings, no friction retard is necessary.

llhe yielding action of the plate 18 may be due entirely either to its own resilience, or to the spring-mounted stud 19, or both. I prefer however that the plate itself shall be of a resilient nature and to also employ the spring-mounted stud, as l have found in practice that l thereby attain the best feeding results. Said plate has a smooth nonfrlctional upper surface and permits the blanks to advance uniformly, while the upturned tip of the plate guides them singly to the top of gage 24 so that one, and only one, will be fed past said gage.

Having now described my invention, .1 claim 1. A blank feeder comprising a feed wheel, a hopper for blanks, a fixed gage having its tip located to permit the passage of blanks singly between it and said wheel and having its rear face adj acent'the tip substantially radial with respect to the wheel, and a guide for directing the blanks to position to be acted upon by the wheel, the delivery end of said guide terminating close to said gage and yieldingly movable toward and away from said wheel.

2. A blank feeder comprising a feed wheel, a hopper for blanks, a fixed gage having its tip located to permit the passage of blanks singly between it and said wheel and having its rear face adjacent the tip substantially radial with respect to the wheel, means for adjusting said fixed gage relatively to the wheel, and a guide for directing the blanks to position to be acted upon by the wheel, the delivery end of said guide terminating close to said gage and yieldingly movable toward and away from 3. A blank feeder comprising .a feed wheel, a hopper for blanks, a resillent guide having an upturned delivery end for directsaid wheel.

, ing the blanks to position to be acted upon by said wheel, and a gage adjacent said delivery end of the guide, said gage being spaced at a predetermined distance from the wheel.

4:. A blank feeder comprising a feed.

per being positioned to cause the blanks to rest with their forward edges on said surface.

7. A blank feeder comprising a hopper for blanks, a feed wheel, a yielding guide having an up-turned delivery end for directing blanks from the hopper to position to be acted upon by said wheel, said guide having a smooth non-frictional surface and the hopper being positioned to cause the blanks to restv with their forward edges on said surface, and a gage adjacent the delivery end of said guide.

8. A blank feeder comprising a feed wheel, a gage adjacent the lower portion of the periphery of the wheel to permit the passage of blanks singly between'it and the wheel, a smooth-surfaced plate for directing blanks to the top of said gage to be acted upon by the wheel to be carried past said gage, a movable stop adjacent the gage, and means for intermittently shifting said stop to alternately arrest and permit the passage of blanks.

9. A blank feeder comprising a feed wheel, 3. age adjacent the lower portion of the perip ery of the wheel to permit the passage of blanks singly between it and the wheel, a smooth-surfaced plate for directing blanks to the top of said gage to be acted upon by the wheel to be carried past said gage, a movable stop adjacent the gage, and means for intermittently shifting said stop to alternately arrest and permit the passage of blanks, said means comprising a cam rotatable with the feed wheel and connections whereby said cam will shift the stop.

10. A blank feeder comprising a feed wheel, a gage adjacent the lower portion of the periphery of the wheel, a smooth-surfaced plate for directing blanks to the top of said gage to be acted upon by the wheel to be carried past said gage, a spring mounted signature.

LEON E. LA BO-MBARD. 

